NEW MEXICO LAWYER FINED $5,000 FOR AI-GENERATED MURDER APPEAL BRIEF

New Mexico's Supreme Court fined attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt on Wednesday for submitting a legal brief containing fabricated witnesses and false police testimony generated by ChatGPT. The brief, filed in an appeal of a murder conviction, contained what the court described as "false testimony from wholly fabricated witnesses" and false statements about a shooter's clothing and appearance. Aarons admitted during an August hearing that he had used ChatGPT to create what he intended as a "bulletproof summary" of trial proceedings, without verifying the accuracy of the document's contents.

Justice C. Shannon Bacon questioned Aarons' awareness of the risks posed by artificial intelligence during the hearing, stating: "Counsel, do you watch the news? Do you listen to the radio? Do you read anything about what's going on in the world?" The court found that Aarons had "demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for his client". In a statement, Aarons said he had not understood the degree to which AI could generate false information and described the submission as "an honest mistake" and "a lesson learned for all professionals who rely upon this powerful but sometimes unstable technology."

The court referred Aarons to an attorney disciplinary board for investigation. The case represents an escalation in a growing number of instances where judges have sanctioned lawyers for submitting AI-generated court documents without adequate verification. Dozens of lawyers have previously faced discipline for filing briefs containing fabricated case citations, though Aarons' case appears to involve fabricated witness testimony in a criminal matter. The underlying murder appeal, involving defendant Oscar Renee Sandoval, remains pending and has been reassigned to a public defender.